Well, at the end of "The Kids in the Hall," or as we were finishing our last season, we sort of had a group meeting and we took a vote as to whether we wanted to proceed to try to make a movie or do another season of the show. I was the only one voting for another season of the show, because I found the form pleasing, being a character person who likes to do a bunch of different things as opposed to one singular thing. So shortly after that, I started getting feelers who said there was interest in me to go to "Saturday Night Live" and I jumped. And the experience was good. It was hard. It's a really hard show to work on, but I enjoyed it. Every Saturday, the world came to that studio. It was really thrilling to be a part of it.
Was it a lot different than shooting on tape?
Well, "Kids in the Hall" shot live, actually. We had this weird cycle where we wrote for like four weeks and then we picked our sketches and then we would concentrate on the films - like where we went out with a film crew and a director who was usually different from our studio director. And we'd shoot our film sketches and edit them while we were rehearsing the studio stuff, which we performed live and rolling the film sketches in between live studio sketches. It wasn't that dissimilar, but being live in front of the nation is a different thing. Definitely a rush.
Did you ever want to try directing?
That's a question I've been getting a lot today. Do I suddenly look like a director?
Just because the other "Kids" did.
It's something I'm looking at but it's not a decision I want to take lightly or casually. I'm sort of kicking around short film ideas just to try my hand at it. I remember doing it on "Kids in the Hall" and finding it really stimulating and something that I think, if I'm remembering correctly, I had sort of an aptitude for. I like gathering it all together, and of course directing is making 5,000 decisions a day, remembering your creative template in your head but still having to be flexible. I kind of like that, but it is a different kind of life cycle. It's very long lead. Acting is different. You read a script, you express an interest, you meet with people. You're either doing it or your not. Whereas the way, I think, to direct properly is to find things that reflect your favorite themes and then you spend a long time with it.
Is there any hope for another "Kids" movie?
We did go through a phase a year ago where we were kicking around ideas and then everyone got busy again, which seems to be our curse. Again, it's a bigger commitment of time than even probably doing a tour. But, I think there's interest. It's just when are we all going to be clear at the same time. But I think we all keep a weather eye out for an opportunity for something to do together.
